Special Issue – August 2014: Endowed Professorships

University professors bring Meliora to life by challenging students, pursuing innovative research, and providing exceptional health care and service to the community and the world. Thanks to your incredible support we have reached one of our faculty goals for The Meliora Challenge and are closing in on another.

In May, we reached our goal of establishing a minimum of 80 endowed professorships, before the end of the Campaign. To date, we have 83, and we are now working to hit 100. Every gift creating an endowed professorship has helped to push us closer to our overall faculty support goal of $350 million. As of June 30, 2014, your incredible generosity has us rolling past $347 million.

By cultivating a strong faculty we cultivate a strong student body. The best students want to learn from and work with those at the top of their respective fields. Some of those leading professors are the beneficiaries of newly established endowed professorships.

In past issues of Fast Forward, we have highlighted the inaugural holders of new endowed professorships and the generous donors who have created legacies of support in areas across the University. You can read more about those covered in the last fiscal year below. 

• Hansjörg Wyss Professorship
• Dr. James C. Wyant Professorship in Optics
• William and Sheila Konar Endowed Professorship
• Ramon and Judith Ricker Saxophone Professorship
• Ramon and Judith Ricker Jazz Saxophone Professorship
• Joseph M. Lobozzo II Professorship
• Catherine E. Aquavella Distinguished Professorship in Ophthalmology
• James V. Aquavella, M.D. Professorship in Ophthalmology
• Adeline Lutz Distinguished Professorship in Ophthalmology
• Richard T. Bell Endowed Professorship
• Frederick A. Horner, M.D. Endowed Professorship in Pediatric Neurology
• Dexter Perkins Professorship in History
• Alan F. Hilfiker Distinguished Professorship in English
• Robert L. McCrory Professorship
• Michael C. Jensen Professorship
• James D. Thompson Chief Advancement Officer: Endowed by Larry and Cindy Bloch
• Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music
• Susanna and Evans Y. Lam Professorship
• Jay S. and Jeanne P. Benet Professor of Finance
• Bradford C. Berk, MD, PhD Distinguished Professorship
• Wilmot Distinguished Professorship in Cancer Genomics
• Dr. Stephen I. Rosenfeld and Elise A. Rosenfeld Distinguished Professorship in Allergy and Clinical Immunology
• Lori and Alan S. Zekelman Professorship of Business Administration

You can find more information on endowed professorships, how they are created, and learn about other distinguished University professors in the Endowed Professorships Brochure.